Woman Holding a Crayfish

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Attributed To Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770)

Culture Japanese

Title Woman Holding a Crayfish

Date 1765

Medium Color woodblock print

Dimensions Sheet: 10 11/16 x 7 13/16 in. (27.1 x 19.8 cm)

Credit Line Gift of Charles Page, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 68.204

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About this Work

This rare print by Harunobu is ostensibly an image of a young woman, but it is a mitate or visual word play parodying a famous Buddhist parable in which a Buddhist monk performs the shocking act of catching and presumably eating a living thing. The purpose of the Buddhist parable is to create an unsolvable paradox through which the viewer is brought to satori, or enlightenment. Alternatively, the print also entertains the viewer, who recognizes the source of the image in its altered form and delights in the richness of the pun.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Woman Holding a Crayfish | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=68.204